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    How do you turn on a thinkpad without a keyboard?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by wiivile, Feb 2, 2014.

  1. wiivile

    wiivile Notebook Consultant

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    I have a Thinkpad X201, but the connector for the keyboard on the motherboard is broken, so I can't put in a keyboard. The power button is on the keyboard. I need to turn on the laptop, though, how do I do this? Would a USB keyboard support this?
     
    wiivile, Feb 2, 2014
    #1
  2. turqoisegirl08

    turqoisegirl08 Notebook Evangelist

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    If you have a dock it is possible as the dock has a power button. I am fairly certain a USB keyboard would not work.
     
    turqoisegirl08, Feb 2, 2014
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  3. nakednakedguy

    nakednakedguy Notebook Guru

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    Has the connector completely broken off the motherboard? If not can't you hold the cable in place and power it on? You can also short the right pins to power it on.
     
    nakednakedguy, Feb 2, 2014
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  4. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    Presuming one knows what exactly needs to be shorted out...

    Finding a dock and powering the machine on that way is likely to be less of a hassle.

    My $0.02 only...
     
    ajkula66, Feb 2, 2014
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  5. turqoisegirl08

    turqoisegirl08 Notebook Evangelist

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    @OP. The reason I know why the dock solution works is I had worked on a T61 last year which did not have a keyboard. My solution was to borrow the dock from my T500 (for the power button) and use a pretty crappy android tablet keyboard/case (has a USB connector) for keyboard input. I had originally bought the keyboard for my android tablet but the keyboard is unsuitable for human use- simply terrible.....however it did redeem itself slightly here as far as helping me test the T61 out :)

    No Keyboard T61 Test 1
    No Keyboard T61 Test 2
     
    turqoisegirl08, Feb 2, 2014
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